Should BMW actually make its Kidney Grille wider, not taller?

By now, it’s no secret that BMW’s new Kidney Grille design, first seen on the Concept 4, isn’t very loved. Fans are massively disappointed with the brand taking one of its most iconic designs and morphing it into a monstrosity. We know this is the direction BMW wants to go in but it’s not one that fans are happy with. However, there might be an answer to the brand’s grille identity that might appease both BMW and its fans.

The answer might be to make the Kidney Grille wider, not taller. At the moment, the Bavarian design philosophy is moving toward the latter, giving the Concept 4, and subsequent 4 Series/M4/M3, a grille like a Bane mask. However, if the grille were to become wider, not taller, it might actually look better. In fact, we’re sure of it.

Jalopnik recently rendered why the BMW Concept 4 might look like with wider Kidneys, rather than taller ones and it looks better. Not only that but editor Jason Torchinsky makes a very good point.

The Concept 4 is the first Bimmer to have an uber-tall Kidney Grille. Back in the day, cars like the original BMW 328 had very tall, skinny grilles and they worked quite well. But those were very narrow cars with tall, upright hoods. So the tall, skinny grilles worked well. Modern cars are not narrow, tall or upright. Instead, cars are wider than ever before, have much shorter, less upright hoods (for pedestrian crash safety) and tons of space for wide grilles. So fitting the Concept 4 with a much wider, shorter grille works out much better.

Plus, look back at every other great looking BMW with a large grille — they’re all wider than they are tall. The BMW 507 and Z8 immediately come to mind. So wide grilles seem to work really well for the Bavarians. Which makes it odd that they’re go in such a different direction as of late.

We know that BMW wants larger grilles. The Chinese market is likely the biggest reason, as it’s the brand’s largest market and its customers love massive grilles and premium cars. That’s fine. Makes sense. However, BMW should just change the shape and make its grille wider, rather than taller.